Zevi Eckhaus, the Jewish starting quarterback for the Washington State University Cougars, detailed in a recent interview a ritual he does at every football game to thank God for his success.

“Every game, I go to the 18-yard line, get down on a knee, and pray — just thank Him for all He’s done for me and continues to do,” the Culver City, California, native told the Seattle-based Substack newsletter The Cholent. “Playing football is something I do, but the human I am — that’s a lot more. I’m not that person without God.”

The number 18 holds significance in Judaism. “Chai” is the Hebrew word for life and its two letters in the Hebrew alphabet have numerical values that add up to 18.

“I’m a big believer that everything that’s done is through God,” Eckhaus said. “Every time I put on my pads and go outside and throw a football, I know that’s with God’s help. Football and anything I do in my life is completely intertwined with my religion.”

Eckhaus previously played for the Bulldogs at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. He is currently one of the few Jewish players in NCAA Division I football. He graduated from Washington State in May with a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and is currently pursuing a master’s in strategic communication. He prays “every single day” with tefillin, small leather boxes with straps traditionally wrapped on one’s head and arm at the start of weekday morning prayers, and observes the Jewish holidays. However, keeping Shabbat and kosher poses difficulties because of his career, he told The Cholent.

“Shabbos is still tricky because we play on Saturdays,” he explained. “Eating kosher all the time is also hard because of the cafeteria and being at the facility most of the day. But I wake up every morning and put on tefillin. I read mishnayos every week. There’s a small Hillel group here I can meet with sometimes. I try to keep as much as I can with my religion.”

He also explained that the Cougars have been very accepting and welcoming of him being an observant Jew, saying, “There is no judgement.”

“I even had two Palestinian offensive linemen in my college career, and those guys were some of the nicest to me,” he added. “There’s no bickering or tension around religion, at least not in my experience.”

Eckhaus went to the Cheder Menachem elementary and middle school in Los Angeles, and his mother did not allow non-kosher food into their home when he was growing up, he told The Cholent. “We were not extremely Orthodox in the household,” he noted. “We didn’t keep kosher 100 percent of the time … outside the house we sometimes ate non-kosher. Inside the house she kept everything pure.”

“My mom wanted us to have a strong connection with religion because that’s what she grew up with,” he told the newsletter. “As we got older, past bar and bat mitzvah age, she kept the regimen in the house but allowed us to do our own things.”

On Saturday night, the Cougars finished the 2025 regular season by beating the Oregon State Beavers 32-8 and securing bowl eligibility. Eckhaus told The Cholent he would love to continue playing football for as long as possible and his dream is to compete in the NFL. After his athletic career ends, he hopes to be a sports analyst or a sports commentator.